Paisley Geothermal Update

Paisley Project Information Sheet

July 2014

By: Lynn Culp

SVEC Member Service Manager

Surprise Valley Electric continues to progress on the development of geothermal electric plant on their project in Paisley, Oregon. The project has been in the construction phase for the past several months and is nearing completion. The gathering system, which consists of more than 9000 feet of 12” and 16” steel pipe has been constructed and insulated. This system includes the two production wells, which will deliver the geothermal fluid to the power plant and the injection well.

The power plant was manufactured by Turbine Air Systems (TAS) and built on modules in Houston Texas and delivered to Paisley where it was assembled by Colorado TBC (TBC) the project construction contractor.A new 69kVa transmission line and substation was constructed by contractor, Wasatch Electric. The substation was built adjacent to the power plant which generates electricity at 4160 volts. The substation transformer increases the voltage to 69,000 volts and is delivered to our existing 69kVa transmission near the Paisley substation.

In May 2014, TAS began commissioning and start up activities, which included running the cooling system, delivering geothermal fluid to the vaporizer, testing the control and electrical systems and adjusting the Hyundai generator. On June 9 electricity was generated and synchronized to the electrical grid for the first time for some short tests.

There are a number of items that still have to be completed with the gathering system and the commissioning and start up procedures and other matters, before commercial operation of the plant may begin.

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